Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(358)
- Faculty Publications (60)
- 2024
- Working Paper
Gastrointestinal Endoscopy--Without Cutting In: Case Histories of Transformational Advances
By: Amar Bhidé, Srikant M. Datar and Katherine Stebbins
This case history describes how endoscopy transformed the diagnosis of ulcers, cancerous polyps, and other alimentary canal diseases and enabled “minimally invasive” surgeries to treat such diseases. Specifically, we chronicle how: 1) flexible glass fiber endoscopes... View Details
- May 2019
- Case
The United States Air Force: 'Chaos' in the 99th Reconnaissance Squadron
By: Francesca Gino, Jeff Huizinga and Nicole Keller
In the spring of 2019, Lt. Col. Matthew “Chaos” Nussbaum is nearing the end of his two-year term as commander of the U.S. Air Force's 99th Reconnaissance Squadron. In this position, he has focused the majority of his energy on finding new ways to organize, train, and... View Details
- March 2018 (Revised September 2023)
- Case
X: The Foghorn Decision
In February 2016, Kathy Hannun—a project leader at X, Alphabet Inc.'s so-called "moonshot factory"—had to prepare a recommendation for the senior leadership of X regarding the future of Foghorn, a project she was leading to develop a carbon-neutral process for... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; R＆D Project Management; Radical Innovation; Clean Technology; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Energy; Research and Development; Projects; Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; California
- January 2018
- Case
Flying into the Future: HondaJet
By: Gary P. Pisano and Jesse Shulman
This cases examine Honda’s diversification into the light jet market. In 1985, Honda initiated a secret program to develop a small jet. Over the years, the program had many ups and downs (it was almost canceled several times). Then, a breakthrough in the configuration... View Details
- Article
The Board's New Innovation Imperative: Directors Need to Rethink Their Roles and Their Attitude to Risk
By: Linda A. Hill and George Davis
As firms scramble for competitive advantage, boards—once the cautious voices urging management to mitigate risk—are now calling for breakthrough innovation. Indeed, avoiding risk is now seen as the riskiest proposition of all. In speaking with CEOs and board members... View Details
- May 2017 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
Hyperloop Transportation Technologies: Building Breakthrough Innovations in Crowd-Powered Ecosystems
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Terri L. Griffith and Ann Majchrzak
Dirk Ahlborn, co-founder and CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT) looks back at the evolving organizational design and community that allows HTT to be crowd-powered. Since the founding in 2013, HTT has dealt with building an organization with less... View Details
- 2017
- Chapter
Entrepreneurship in Larger Companies
By: William R. Kerr
Entrepreneurship in large and established companies is vital for their long-term success. Incumbent firms face many challenges ranging from global competition to digitization. In times past, being caught flat-footed might have set a company back several years, but it... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship
- December 2016
- Background Note
Reaching Beyond Your Organization: Empowering Innovation
By: William R. Kerr
Forward-thinking established companies utilize new routes for external innovation with start-ups and crowds. The reading reviews strategic partnerships, strategic investments, strategic acquisitions, and crowd-based collaborations. Case examples include Google, SK... View Details
- November 2016 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
reMarkable: e-Writing the Future
By: Elie Ofek and Curtis Hsu
Magnus Wanberg is the creator of reMarkable, a breakthrough e-writer device set apart from similar products on the market by having solved the frustrating “slow ink” problem typically experienced on pen-based electronic devices, thus providing a “pen and paper” like... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Innovation Management; Go To Market Strategy; Marketing Plan; Target Market; Digital Devices; Consumer Electronics; Forecasting; Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Innovation and Management; Marketing Channels; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Marketing; Product Development; Electronics Industry
- May–June 2015
- Other Article
The Challenges of Ambidextrous Leadership: An Interview with Michael Tushman
By: Michael Tushman and Jim Euchner
Michael Tushman talks with Jim Euchner about the challenges of managing breakthrough innovation in established companies. View Details
Keywords: Innovation and Management
- July 2013
- Case
Novozymes: Establishing the Cellulosic Ethanol Value Chain
By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai
As the world's largest producer of industrial enzymes, Novozymes had invested heavily for many years to bio-engineer enzymes that could break down cellulose into fermentable sugar. In 2010, the company had launched what it thought would become a breakthrough product... View Details
Keywords: System Complexity; Industrial Enzymes; Ethanol; Collulosic Ethanol; Fermentation; Genomics; Genetic Engineering; Value Chain; Assembling Value Chain; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Growth; Production; Research; Research and Development; Science; Genetics; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Science-Based Business; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Vertical Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Energy Industry; Denmark; United States
- Article
Experiments in Open Innovation at Harvard Medical School
By: Eva C. Guinan, Kevin J. Boudreau and Karim R. Lakhani
Harvard Medical School seems an unlikely organization to open up its innovation process. By most measures, the more than 20,000 faculty, research staff and graduate students affiliated with Harvard Medical School are already world class and at the top of the medical... View Details
- April 2013
- Article
In Search of a Second Act: Riding the Popularity of a Great First Product Is Easy; Finding the Next One Is Hard
By: Elie Ofek and Jill Avery
The article presents a fictional case study on new product development and improvement after the successful launch of a first breakthrough product. Topics include business planning for brand name products, finance and investment for the development of educational toys,... View Details
Keywords: Innovation; Growth Strategy; Consumer Marketing; Marketing; Brand Management; Market Research; New Product Development; Marketing Management; Technology Commercialization; Technology; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry; North and Central America; United States
- June 2012
- Supplement
Foro Energy (B)
By: Joseph B. Lassiter, William A. Sahlman and James McQuade
Foro Energy developed proprietary and patent-pending fiber-laser technologies that could disrupt existing processes and services for the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. These breakthrough laser technologies were protected by a strong intellectual... View Details
- March 2012 (Revised December 2012)
- Case
Foro Energy (A)
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and James McQuade
Foro Energy developed proprietary and patent-pending fiber-laser technologies that could disrupt existing processes and services for the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. These breakthrough laser technologies were protected by a strong intellectual... View Details
- 2010
- Chapter
Breakthrough Inventions and the Growth of Innovation Clusters
By: William R. Kerr
This report provides a comprehensive look at the role of innovation in promoting economic and social development. It examines the impact of innovation on the economic growth of developing countries and the future role of technological innovation in international... View Details
- May 2010
- Column
Block-by-Blockbuster Innovation
Executives often find themselves debating the merits of incremental innovations versus game-changers, but that's a false dichotomy, says HBR columnist Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Even if a company is lucky enough to come up with the next Kindle, Swiffer, or smartphone,... View Details
- January 2010
- Article
Breakthrough Inventions and Migrating Clusters of Innovation
By: William R. Kerr
We investigate the speed at which clusters of invention for a technology migrate spatially following breakthrough inventions. We identify breakthrough inventions as the top one percent of U.S. inventions for a technology during 1975-1984 in terms of subsequent... View Details
- Article
What Really Motivates Workers
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steve J. Kramer
This essay appears in "The HBR List: Breakthrough Ideas for 2010," which is compiled by this journal in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. The ten problems and the innovative solutions are discussed in each essay. This particular essay describes research... View Details